Master of Fine Arts in TV & Screenwriting
Our mission is to bring more female and underrepresented voices — and female-focused stories — into mainstream media while studying film with a female gaze.
In our customized low-residency MFA, choose your mentor from top artist-scholars in the industry, most of whom are members of the Writers Guild of America and/or have specialties in the worlds of podcasting, animation, short films, or late-night comedy.
Why Stephens?
Our program — with its bold, daring mission — has drawn the attention and the support of some of the most successful and well-known writers in Hollywood. Our faculty and mentors include some of the best working writers in the profession, and our curriculum includes an in-depth look at the business side of TV and screenwriting.
- Our community of professors, faculty mentors, and professional working writers are available to help you develop your vision, your voice, and your career. And they’ll do it on your schedule, on your time and between all the other demands of your busy life. International students pay no extra tuition fees.
- Learning the craft of writing is essential but so is learning the business of selling what you write. Get access to prominent showrunners, writers from the film world, development executives, agents, and managers. During each workshop, participate in a panel discussion with WGA writers.
- Affordability is often the #1 factor in choosing a program, and we understand that. Stephens has earned the title of #1 Most Affordable Film Studies Online Degree from Best Colleges.
- Flexible online writing courses; a 2-year MFA program; weeklong workshops in Hollywood to begin each semester; and the ability to choose your own mentor make this program fully customized to fit your needs.
- Our alumni have a remarkable record of success. They have written on hit shows such as “Ramy,” “13 Reasons Why,” “Seal Team,” “Generations,” and “The Equalizer”.
This program changed my life by giving me a real understanding of what it takes to be a writer in this industry.
– Pam Winfrey ’18
Applications
Applications open each November and offer rolling admissions, closing when we fill our (20-24) person cohort. (Only those hoping to be eligible for our Jan Marino Scholarship need to have been accepted and deposited by March 31st.) Our Residency Workshop begins the first week of August, and online courses begin the last week of August.
Program Structure
The Stephens College MFA in TV and Screenwriting is the first low-residency program of its kind in the country. It’s also the first to focus on the mission of bringing more female writers into mainstream Hollywood and studying film with a female gaze.
Low Residency
Being a low-residency program means the MFA candidate is responsible for traveling to Hollywood for 10 days at the beginning of each semester (in the first weeks of August and January) for a workshop experience worth 3 credit units. We hold the workshops in the historic heart of Hollywood. Their other courses are taken online across the rest of the semester under the mentorship of instructors chosen because they are all working writers and members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA). From the start we committed to provide high-quality online learning for our MFA candidates by hiring mentors with experience in online teaching and providing them with extra tools and training when needed.
Program Details
Each semester, MFA candidates take 3 courses. In their first year, they have one mentor for a television script and one mentor for a screenplay. The television mentors change each semester because in the fall semester, students write a spec script and in spring, a pilot. The screenplay mentor is onboard for the whole year, as the fall semester is all about developing an outline and writing Act One of the screenplay, and then the spring semester is completing and revising the script.
In year two, there’s a second screenplay written (with a different mentor) and a Thesis project, which can be anything from a web series to a limited series pilot and bible, to a group of short films or a written academic thesis. By the time the MFA candidate graduates, they will have experienced, at minimum, four different mentors. Throughout the two years, they take a History of Screenwriting class. That’s the most like an online classroom experience, with selected readings and viewing films each week, and then posting online responses to the material.
At the end of each semester, MFA candidates turn in a profile of a screenwriter. Our 2017 class compiled 22 profiles into the award-winning book WHEN WOMEN WROTE HOLLYWOOD, published by McFarlane Press in 2018.
Faculty & Mentors
- Our faculty and mentors include Writers Guild Award and Oscar and Emmy winners, showrunners, writer-producers from hit one-hour dramas and half-hour shows. They are writers who also have extensive teaching backgrounds.
- Between residencies, you’ll work online with at least four different mentors.
My Stephens MFA made me a better artist-scholar. Its mission for radical inclusivity inspired my stories and shaped my teaching. I am more deeply committed to telling untold stories than ever. I received several job offers and promotion upon graduation. The emphasis on cutting-edge learning techniques has also shaped my teaching. This program took me to the next level in my career, and I’m not done yet.
Laura Kirk ’17
“Stephens College offers the #1 most affordable film studies online degree on our list!”
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Contact Us
Master of Fine Arts in TV & SCreenwriting
Dr. Rosanne Welch, Executive Director
(800) 876-7207 ext. 4312
rwelch@stephens.edu